NOTES from a. botanical world // August
Connect with nature, the seasons, and your wellbeing with a monthly round up of NOTES from a. botanical world from nature and gardening writer and author Sonya Patel Ellis
Welcome to the August issues of NOTES from a. botanical world, a little late this month as I did indeed continue my gallivanting, this time to Athens and then the beautiful Greek island of Skyros. Finally, a holiday!
As such my newsletter is somewhat themed to the land of this magical, mythical place starting with the emergence of the uber-bright Sturgeon Moon in NOTES. from the universe. It’s been and gone now but worth lingering on this wonderful illumination until the super Blue Moon at the end of the month. Feeling lucky to have experienced such a view.
NOTES. from near and far takes you away to the under reaches of the Acropolis (too hot to climb all the way up there this summer) with its olive groves and coastal views, before flying off to Skyros for a round up of pretty much all my favourite plants – olive and fig trees, bougainvillea, pomegranates, jasmine, succulents, bougainvillea and of course herbs, herbs, and more herbs – continued in NOTES. on design and NOTES. from the plant kingdom with a focus on pots of inspiration and the most breathtaking hedge of cascading rosemary I have ever seen and smelled in my life. Life goals.
The island was also covered with wild fennel inspiring this month’s herbal foray from my book The Heritage Herbal, with recipes for fennel fritters, natural breath freshener, and a grapefruit and fennel body wash. Is this not the best herb ever?
I had to skip NOTES. from the bookshelf this issue because it was fiction on Kindle all the way for me this month. However, if you haven’t read Circe by Madeline Miller yet, put it at the top of your reading list immediately. I’ve been saving it for years for the moment when I could read it in Greece and it is as awe-inspiring as everyone says. What I didn’t expect was such a focus on witchery and herb craft, and finding the power within. Off to locate some Moly herbs with which to fend off life’s obstacles.
Which brings me to NOTES. on writing, exploring places where the writing happens including those moments when you might not have anywhere specific to write. Remember that elsewhere is hopefully temporary and when you find a new regular writing spot somewhere you will remember the times you had to write from a well situated deckchair on Wanstead Flats like now.
And finally to NOTES. from the garden. I finally made it into my garden again yesterday after months of no access and a front yard full of detritus. It felt good to pull the weeds from the cement-covered soil and find that sweet cicely is determined to grow through anything anyone throws at her. Having received quite a few bulb-related emails over the past few weeks I finally succumbed and started putting a few thoughts and orders together based on some of this year’s floral highlights, including Sarah Price’s show-stopping Benton End-inspired garden at Chelsea.
All this and more is included in my fourth issue of NOTES from a. botanical world (keep scrolling down folks) and is free to subscribers so please do join my community as I have lots of content to share with you from my books and writings (The Botanical Bible, The Heritage Herbal, The Birdwatchers’ Bible, The Modern Gardener, The Herb Book to name a few), work as a school gardener, writing coach and arts educator, and via the wonderful people I meet through editing and commissioning gardening and nature-inspired publications. I’ll also be filling my NOTES from a. botanical world borders with lots of exclusive content for paid subscribers so watch this space.
I’d also love to hear NOTES from your botanical world so do get in touch via email (hello@abotanicalworld.com) or Instagram (@sonyapatelellis).
Enjoy my wanderings and the weekend and i’ll be back with more NOTES before the next monthly drop in September. Look out for regular updates via Just. NOTES in between.
Sonya X
